OCTOBER 25, 1996 GAY PEOPLe's ChroniCLE

25

EVENINGS OUT

Hairdresser whodunit is like a good game of Clue

by Doreen Cudnik

Cleveland-If the spontaneous energy of interactive, improvisational theater gets you going, or better yet, if you've ever imagined what it would be like to play a live game of "Clue," then Shear Madness, the new play at the Allen Theater in Playhouse Square, will be the perfect way to spend an evening.

Set in what could be just about any Cleveland hair salon, Shear Madness is a whodunit where the audience helps uncover the mystery of who murdered the eccentric and reclusive concert pianist who lived in the apartment above the shop. Each performance is different from the last, depending on the direction the audience takes. The characters even continue the charade during the intermission, where Cleveland Police detective Nick Rossetti (played by Michael Fennimore, who has appeared in over 3,500 performances of Shear Madness) meets with audience members in the lobby to discuss clues and talk about what they saw when the crime took place.

The evening I was there, Rossetti was surrounded by people during the break who asked questions and shared leads. On our way out to the lobby, my date and I discussed one of the clues-a cut on the finger of one of the characters.

"The detective should have him remove the Band-Aid so he can see how deep the cut is," my date commented. Then it dawned on us: There is no cut. He's an actor and we're seeing a play. Ah, but that's what makes Shear Madness so much fun. You get totally caught up in the mystery.

A huge part of the fun for gay and lesbian audiences is the character Tony Whitcomb, the salon's fabulously and flamboyantly gay owner. At first, I was a bit concerned that Tony was every gay male stereotype ever invented, all rolled neatly into one Izod-wearing, show-tune singing hairdresser. Then I realized, I know this guy-we all know gay men like Tony, who make no apologies about reveling in their gayness-and the play makes it clear that, of course, he shouldn't. Mitchell Mullen, himself a gay man, plays the character with love, good humor and a great deal of gay sensibility.

Some members of the gay communty may not feel the same way, Mullen acknowledged, adding that Shear Madness is often a difficult sell to the gay community.

"I don't have any moral dilemma about portraying a character like Tony," Mullen commented. "I know some gay men in Boston who came to see the show and they were all offended, but if the director were to offer any of them an audition, they'd play Tony in a second."

"Being a gay person as I am, I'm not sure that that prepares you for doing the role of Tony," Mullen continued “I approach Tony the same way I would any other role. I don't think that a straight actor would be any more prepared to play Tony than a gay actor would. The show is a lot of fun, and I approach it as an actor, not as gay man."

All of the characters in Shear Madness are stereotypes-from Tony's gum-popping, Spandex-wearing assistant Barbara DeMarco (Jacqi Loewy) to the Shaker Heights socialite Mrs. Shubert (Lissy

ROGER MASTROJANNI

The cast of Shear Madness is Michael Fennimore and Jacqi Loewy, seated; and Khalel Hakim, Mitchell Mullen, Lissy Gulick and Paul Floriano.

Gulick). Full of Cleveland humor, from Art Modell jokes to playful jabs at some of the suburbs, Shear Madness definitely has something for everyone.

The play has acheived cult status in other cities, like Boston, where they renamed the street that the Charles Theatre is located on "Shear Madness Alley." The show recently celebrated its 16th birthday in Boston, and in November of 1987, became the longest consecutive running nonmusical play in American theater history. It is currently playing in 28 cities around the world.

"No matter what you feel about the politics of the show, I've never seen anyone walk away thinking it wasn't funny," Mullen said.

Tickets for Shear Madness are now available at the Playhouse Square box office, all Advantix outlets or by phone at 216-2416000, or 800-766-6048. Regular performances will be Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $25 for the Friday and Saturday evenings; $20 for all other performances.

A butch, a femme, and $2 milliion of Mob money

Continued from page 21

"The character of Violet, a woman that you would see on the street and make a host of assumptions about that would all be dead wrong, was the starting point for the story," they explained. "After that, the lesbian love story fell very naturally into place."

The inevitable question is: So, how did two heterosexual brothers from the Midwest manage to create these two lesbian characters that are believable?

"I was a little curious about that too," Gershon commented. "But their sensibility of women really comes from a deep respect for women. They're very cool and they seemed fairly evolved when it came to women, but [when considering the part] I kept thinking, 'I don't know, I don't know.' And then I met their wives and I said, 'I'll do it, I'm in.' They have amazing wives and a

great mom."

Her respect for fellow actress Jennifer Tilly made the decision to take the role of Corky easier, and because of their ease with each other, the sexual chemistry sizzles between the two women.

"[Jennifer and I] were both saying "who's the other girl, who's the other girl?" But as soon as I met Jennifer, I thought, “Oh, she's going to make my job so much easier, because she's so adorable and animated and

fun, that I could just watch her and have this big smile on my face. She's just charming.”

While the passionate scenes with Tilly looked deliciously authentic, Gershon said that regardless of who your on-screen partner is, sex scenes are always awkward.

"The scene in bed was so technical, because we did it all in one camera take. It was like we were having sex with about twenty people, it was so choreographed." But I have

to

say, it's great doing a love scene with another girl because you can say, 'Listen, this is a problem area, you hold your hand here, I'll hold you up there-that looks much better. And if you keep your legs crossed and I put mine over here, it will hide this problem over here.' You can't really do that with a

guy. Can you imagine? 'Put your dick over on this side, it looks better that way.' It doesn't work."

While Gershon was a bit worried about what her mother would think of the passionate same-sex love scenes with Tilly, it was the realism of her skills as a tradeswoman that impressed Mom the most. "She said, 'You know, you really are a good actress because I really believed that you could do that plumbing'," Gershon recalled with a laugh. "I'm very spastic when it comes to stuff like that."

To make sure that the sex scenes and the interaction between the two main characters would be believable to a gay audience, the Wachowski brothers hired famed "sexpert" Susie Bright (who also has a small cameo appearance) to be the film's technical advisor. Bright was instrumental on many levels, particularly in helping Gershon develop the character of Corky. Bright gave her a copy of Leslie Fienberg's Stone Butch Blues to read, and pointed her in the direction of a couple of fun queer clubs in San Francisco. In addition to Bright's direction, Gershon also fine-tuned Corky's attitude by "observing a lot of males, and hanging out and watching them pick up girls."

"Also I boxed a lot, to kind of get a certain physicality and learn how to keep my distance with people." Most helpful, Gershon said, was meeting a woman that had just served time in jail for armed robbery. “I hung out with her a lot, and she helped me understand that certain mentality." Watching films starring Marlon Brando, James Dean and Clint Eastwood films also helped Gershon round out the character. “I really love their stillness," she said.

Gershon recalled that the most fun she had working on this film was when it played at the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in San Francisco.

"Now I know what Tom Cruise and and all those guys must feel like, because I literally had girls just screaming their heads off everytime I'd flex amusele. No wonder these actors get such swelled heads and turn into

such jerks sometimes. One [woman] even tried to jump over the balcony to get at me. It was really amazing, because as an actress you never have men coming up to you and saying 'What do you like for breakfast?' If a guy were saying that I'd be like, 'Oh my God, you're such a creep, leave me alone.' But all these women-it was really unbelievable. Women are much more in you face about wanting to be anything for you."

Although the film has fun bending and twisting the classic film noir conventions, it is at its core a mob story, with all the requisite violence and bloodshed. And while even the more violent scenes are handled with the Wachowski's perverse brand of tongue-incheek humor, one close-up scene involving a man's bound hands, a pair of pruning shears and a forced confession is definitely not for the squeamish. (Tell yourself that it's only a movie, and keep in mind that it was not the fate of that finger, but rather the one that Corky puts between Violet's legs that earned the film its NC-17 rating.)

Ultimately, Bound is a film about trust, betrayal, and the power of sex. It's also a reminder that things are not always what they seem on the surface. But best of all for queer audiences, and unlike the tragic endings to the lesbian pulp novels of the '50s, the lesbians in this film encounter a different, and much more pleasurable fate.

"I know when I saw Thelma and Louise, I

was mad that they died at the end. It bugged me. It's nice to see two women winning, and just getting everything they want," Gershon said. "Untimately the movie deals with trust and learning how to trust somebody and be in a real relationship. Violet could have easily screwed me over and set me up and taken the money and ran, and I could have easily done that to her. I think Corky comes around from not trusting anybody to actually trusting this woman and falling in love with her."

The Wachowskis believe they've made a compelling film and hope audiences will respond to its uniqueness. "We tried to play with people's expectations, their assumptions, and the cliches of a genre, including the sexual dynamics implied by these cliches," the brothers sum up. "If people walked out of the theater talking about the roles of men and women in genre fiction, that'd be cool. But we'd settle for, 'That movie kicked butt, let's go see it again.'

"""

"All I know is I've never heard such a positive response about a movie before it's come out," Gershon added. "I don't think you have to be gay to like it, I don't think you have to be straight to like it, I don't think it matters. I think it's a good movie, period."

Bound is playing at the Drexel East in Columbus; and at the Centrum and the Ridge Park Square Cinema in Cleveland.

1-800-FLY-GAYS

LOW FARES

ALL AIRLINES